Dawn of War II is a game that I hate playing on principle. While I loved the first Dawn of War, and its numerous expansions, the sequel's gameplay is such a departure from what I enjoyed that I am not seeing this game as a true sequal. No, it seems to be more "in the spirit of..." To those uninitiated, the first game is a RTS that focuses more on tactics, in that there are only two resources that need collecting, and combat success relies heavily on flanking/positioning and the use of cover. There are few pre-made squads, and your base has to churn out various forces for use on the battlefield. That being said, the use of all space marines, or all assault marines, is entirely up to you.
This second is more of a action-RPG with tactical elements. There are no resources to gather, and the game is all about positioning your pre-made squads to maximum combat effectiveness, and then plowing through the enemies to reach that level's goal. Item drops are fairly common, which function to power-up your sergeants (the leaders of each squad).
I'm a few missions from completing this game, and finding myself loving the inclusion of Games for Windows Live (yay for achievements on the PC), but hating the inclusion of STEAM (boo, I can't trade the game in).
Last note: do NOT buy this game for the single-player experience. You will find the game very lacking if you do.
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